Stories

For anyone who has tried to keep a label attached to a plant, here is a relatable story from Albert Etter from 1906 in the Pacific Rural Press.

  • The history of fruit growing in California

  • The native fruits, some of which were used in hybridization experiments - plums and strawberries

  • The fruits of the Mission era and before state-hood

  • The earliest experiments in California from 1849

  • Where was fruit imported from and how? Before the railroad and after

  • The Albert Etter story (and) is a story of westward migration and intense experimentation with apples, strawberries, and chestnuts.

  • Local horticulturlist &tc. Charles Howard Shinn originally provided Etter with 600 varieties at the request of E.J. Wickson (who had ties with our area. He was a friend of John Rock and married a woman from Irvington).

  • The short commercial relationship with Luther Burbank & George C. Roeding.

  • Albert Etter is not the "Luther Burbank of Humboldt County." He is Albert Etter of Humboldt County! See Tom Hart's presentation and article in Eden Journal Winter 2021.

  • Etter at the PPIE - strawberries and ?

  • The evolution of the apple involves bears who selected the biggest and sweetest apples. And pooped the seeds out to start new varieties. Lots of references now: [Botany of Desire] [Guardian] [bbc]

  • Felix Gillet Institute reported in 2020 that bears still eat apples in the old orchards in the Sierra.

  • Why grafting is needed to ensure that characteristics of fruit are preserved and what happens when they mutate (sports)

  • Plant patents. Why are they important. How long does patent protect? Albert Etter patented and assigned rights to Roeding for seven apples.

  • Many of Etter's varieties are red-fleshed apples and descended from the Surprise apple whose ancestor is thought to be the Malus niedzwetzkyana (picture above), or as some of us like to call it, the "red poison apple" with its shockingly red flesh (see above).

  • Many of Etter's varieties are being used by cider makers and for baking. Search instagram for #wicksoncrab or #etterapples or #etterapple or #pinkpearlapple

  • Genetics, hybridization, sports, the reason for grafting

  • Fruit exploration - where apples came from and how bears selected for the biggest and sweetest apples.

  • Did you know that peaches and apricots originated from China? Did any of the workers from China bring peach pits with them or scions of their favorite peaches?

  • Fruit explorers - Frank Meyer, David Fairchild, George C. Roeding, John Rock.

  • Cider making - as an early preserved food.

  • The true story of Johnny Appleseed. [Botany of Desire]

  • Pink-fleshed apples - the Surprise apple and its ancestor, the intensely red Niedzwetzky's apple (Malus niedzwetzkyana)

  • National Apple day and reasons for having a National Apple Day (anniversary of Etter arriving in Briceburg, surplus of apples during wartime, and other reasons, see Facebook)

  • Albert Etter Day is celebrated in Humboldt County and on Salt Spring Island.

  • Dan Bussey, author of The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada, visited the park in early 2020.

  • Cooking with Etter apples. See insert in one of the catalogs with the local winemaker and gourmet cook, Robert Stoney Mayock recipes.

  • Read more about the role Shinn played from the Fruit Nut Tour given for the CRFG Festival of Fruits in Santa Clara Valley.